1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a server reservation method for making a reservation for the use of the functions of a processing server that performs predetermined processing by accessing the processing server via a network, a reservation control apparatus that controls reservations for the use of the processing server and a program storage medium that stores a program to be executed by the reservation control apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a computer network system, an individual generally opens a homepage to provide created content over the Internet.
When a user personally opens a homepage, the user acquires a homepage creation program with a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as “PC”), creates a homepage hyper-linked with a plurality of content based on the homepage creation program and stores the homepage in a server of an Internet service provider (hereinafter referred to as “ISP”).
Then, the ISP provides the homepage to a client who has accessed it over the Internet from the server and when an anchor on the homepage is clicked, then the ISP provides linked content.
In recent years, content to be supplied to clients over the Internet include many motion pictures and sounds in addition to still pictures. To provide content such as motion pictures, motion picture files and audio files created by the user are uploaded beforehand in a predetermined storage area in a streaming server of the ISP. Then, upon receiving a client's request, the streaming server of the ISP distributes corresponding files to the client by streaming over the Internet.
Furthermore, the technique of distributing content such as motion pictures to clients over the Internet includes a technique called “live distribution”, in addition to “on-demand distribution” whereby a motion picture file is uploaded in a streaming server beforehand and distributed in response to a request from a client as described above. In the live distribution, motion picture data created by a content creator, for example, using a digital camera, is encoded in real time and is sent to the streaming server over the Internet, etc. Then, the streaming server reproduces the motion picture data supplied in real time from the content creator while recording it in a dedicated storage area, and can thereby supply the motion picture data in real time to the requesting client.
On the other hand, when the above-described live distribution is performed, the content creator needs to send motion picture data to the streaming server in real time, and therefore it is necessary to secure a communication path to transmit motion picture data between the streaming server and a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as “PC”) of the content creator while live distribution is performed. This limits the number of content that can be distributed by live distribution using the streaming server at the same time, and in a rush time zone, there is a problem that some content distributors who have been preparing for live distribution in the time zone may not perform live distribution in that time zone.
In order to prevent such a problem and perform live distribution by effectively using the streaming server, it is possible to use the streaming server based on a reservation system. Adopting such a reservation system allows a content creator to make a reservation and carry out live distribution in the reserved time zone.
By the way, it is rare that the real time information of the streaming server on the above-described service provider side is exactly the same as the real time information stored in the PC used by the content creator for content transmission, and generally there is a difference in the real time information between them. In the system that is to perform live distribution in the above-described reserved time zone, there may be cases where it is impossible to perform live distribution using the entire reserved time zone due to a difference in the time information between the streaming server which is the service provider side and the PC of the content creator. For example, it is supposed that the time information stored by the PC of the content creator is ahead of the time information stored by the streaming server which is the apparatus on the service provider side, the content creator recognizes the distribution start time based on the reservation and transmits the content by referring to the time of the own PC. In this case, since the streaming server recognizes at this time that the distribution start time based on the reservation does not come yet, it does not receive the content sent from the content creator, or if do, it does not perform distribution processing. As a result, there exists a waste of time after the content creator has started to send content until the streaming server starts to carry out stream distribution processing, which make the actual live distribution time shorter than the reserved time zone.
Such a problem can occur not only in the reservation system for the streaming server for carrying out a live distribution but also in the case where a processing server that performs predetermined processing other than the live distribution is used based on a reservation system when a user side PC uses the functions of thee processing server via a network such as the Internet and there is a difference in the time information between an apparatus which controls reservations of the processing server and the client PC that uses the processing server.